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Avenger
Avenger is a 1957 Chevy Bel Air monster truck driven by Jim Koehler and is the flagship truck for the Team Scream Racing camp based out of Columbus, Michigan. Avenger is perhaps most famous for its unique bodies which have been ran at every Monster Jam World Finals since 2004. Koehler is the only driver that has competed in every World Finals since 2000. History Avenger was first created in 1997 with a Chevy pickup body in which Jim Koehler campaigned with until after a wild crash in New Orleans 2000, which led to him putting a brand new Chevy S10 body on the truck. This incarnation of Avenger ran until mid 2002 where he created the Nomad/Bel Air body he runs to this day. In 2002, Jim Koehler debuted a brand new 1957 Chevy Bel Air body for Avenger which was the most successful version of the truck, claiming his first Monster Jam World Freestyle Championship in 2003. Koehler continued to run this version until 2008 when he debuted a new, lighter schemed Avenger and a new chassis. In 2004, Avenger ran a special orange paint scheme at the Monster Jam World Finals 5. This would start its World Finals tradition wherein the truck runs a special body for every installment of the event. However, in his freestyle run, after his second hit, he bent the four-link bar, causing the transmission to break. In 2005, Koehler ran a special half dark green and half orange (from last year) paint scheme for Monster Jam World Finals 6, and during his freestyle run, he clipped into the tire of an abandoned Grave Digger on the trailer, causing his run to end. However, he jumped into the pool obstacle after his run. This will start its tradition wherein Koehler jumps into the pool after his run. In 2006, Koehler ran a chrome paint scheme for Monster Jam World Finals 7, and during his run, he lawn-darted over the pool obstacle. In 2008, Koehler debuted a more light green version of Avenger on a brand new chassis built by Koehler, while Chris Bergeron received a new chassis built by Pablo Huffaker and Racesource. This truck was more stable and racing oriented than his previous Avenger, but still a freestyle machine at heart, which he proved by winning multiple freestyle events such as Minneapolis 2008. In 2009, an Australian Avenger debuted. It was also driven by Koehler. It later won the South Pacific World Finals freestyle championship in 2009 and 2010. In 2011, Koehler won Avenger's second World Freestyle Championship title at the Monster Jam World Finals 12 In 2015 and 2016, Avenger takes part of the Fox Sports 1 Series. In 2017, Avenger celebrates its 20th anniversary with a special throw-back body that resembles the Chevy S-10 body from 1999-2001. Jim and the truck competes in the East Coast Fox Sports 1 Series. At the World Finals, fans are shocked as Jim and Avenger make it to the semi-finals, but lost to Ryan Anderson and Son-uva Digger. Jim would also get third place in freestyle. A brand new chassis, built by Cory Rummell, is debuted at the World Finals and Jim has his longest run in the racing bracket, going all the way to the semi-finals. The 2008 chassis becomes Wrecking Crew/Axe. In 2018, Jim competed in one of the Monster Jam Stadium Tours with the original Bel Air body back. Jim drove Avenger at the Monster Jam World Finals 19, where he crashed on his first hit. He brought the blue Bel Air body back for the Wildwood, NJ show, taking 2nd place overall. In 2019, Jim competed on Monster Jam Stadium Tour 1. Jim also qualifies for World Finals in the inaugural high jump competition. Trivia * With its first championship at World Finals 4, Avenger is the only truck to finish last place both the year immediately proceeding and following the same year winning a championship (in the case of the latter, tying last with Blue Thunder and Team Suzuki at Monster Jam World Finals 5). * Avenger is the only truck to compete at every single Monster Jam World Finals (including the Motor Madness World Finals "0") while being driven by the same driver. * Avenger has won the "Extreme Air of the Year" at the World Finals 6 years in a row from 2012-2017. The streak would be ended by Rosalee Ramer (Wild Flower) in 2018. * "Avenger" was also the name of Jim Koehler's Dad's Drag Racing car, and Jim decided to continue the Avenger name by naming his monster truck after his car. * Now retired Corey Clark drove the truck a few times in Australia. * YouTube ganged some minor controversy in 2016 after several amateur videos of Avenger's World Finals 17 freestyle were muted out due to copyright reasons due to the song that was playing during Avenger's freestyle. At least six videos were muted out by YouTube. One of these videos was a full freestyle compilation uploaded by YouTube user TLITD31. When the video was originally uploaded, YouTube muted the entire video solely due to Avenger's freestyle, so the user had to re-upload the video with Avenger's freestyle clip self-muted out. The blocked out song was Let Me Hear You Scream by Ozzy Osbourne. * Avenger was the first ever non-FELD owned truck to win a World Finals championship. Jim Koehler won the freestyle championship at Monster Jam World Finals 4. ** On top of this, Avenger is the only Non-FELD truck to win more than one World Finals Championship. * At the Monster Jam World Finals 16, Avenger had an onboard shot of the chassis, with a BKT sticker in front for sponsorship purposes. Jim didn't have BKT tires on the truck yet, and as some funny humor, next to the BKT sticker, he wrote "I WISH". Body Styles 'World Finals' *2000 - 1994 Chevy *2001 - Dark Green S-10 (had the #3 flag in honor of former NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Sr. who passed away in the Daytona 500 1 month before the world finals). *2002 & 2003 - Dark Green Bel-Air (won its first World Freestyle Championship in 2003 with this version) *2004 - Orange Avenger *2005 - Orange/Green Avenger *2006 - Chrome Avenger *2007 - Toxic Green Avenger *2008 - Light Green Avenger *2009 - Light Blue Avenger *2010 - Flat Black With White Flames Avenger *2011 - Candy Apple Red Avenger (won its second World Freestyle Championship with this version) *2012 - Yellow With Red Flames Avenger *2013 - Dark Red with different colored pin striping Avenger *2014 - Purple Avenger *2015 - White Avenger *2016 - Hand painted "Junkyard Blue" Avenger with rust *2017 - Dark green retro S-10 body with chrome logo *2018 - Green Custom Nomad Avenger 'Other Special Bodies' *1997-2000 - 1994 Chevy *2000-2001 - Dark Green S-10 *2002-2003 - Dark Green Bel-Air *2003-2004 - Avenger occasionally runs the S-10 pickup truck body. *2004 - The Orange body from Monster Jam World Finals 5 is run in October for a show taking place on Halloween. *2009 - Avenger runs a Neon Teal body for the Monster Mash tour. *2009 - Avenger runs an alternate green body with a Fig Newton Sponsorship. *2015 - Avenger runs a "Rockin' 0 Points!" body for the Fox Sports 1 Championship series. *2015 - Avenger Re-Runs the Aqua Blue Avenger from Monster Jam World Finals 10, but the paint job is slightly different. *2016 - Avenger runs a "Rockin 50 Years!" body for Jim Koehler's Birthday. *2016- Avenger Re-Runs the Aqua blue Avenger again. *2017 - Avenger runs a 20th anniversary S-10 body (same color as the standard Avenger, in contrast to the WF18 body which is darker green). *2018 - The 20th Anniversary design is run on very few occasions. *2018- The 2016 "Junkyard Blue" design is run for few occasions. *2018- The Light Blue Avenger returns again. World Finals Appearances * 1999 - Jim Koehler * 2000 - Jim Koehler * 2001 - Jim Koehler * 2002 - Jim Koehler * 2003 - Jim Koehler (won freestyle) * 2004 - Jim Koehler * 2005 - Jim Koehler * 2006 - Jim Koehler * 2007 - Jim Koehler * 2008 - Jim Koehler * 2009 - Jim Koehler * 2010 - Jim Koehler * 2011 - Jim Koehler (won freestyle) * 2012 - Jim Koehler * 2013 - Jim Koehler * 2014 - Jim Koehler * 2015 - Jim Koehler * 2016 - Jim Koehler * 2017 - Jim Koehler * 2018 - Jim Koehler * 2019 - Jim Koehler (High Jump: Jim Koehler) Gallery 12642444_1665365837064226_7648392687465173342_n.jpg|Avenger drag racing car, the inspiration of the Avenger monster truck Avep206a1z.jpg|Avenger 1997-2000 15823129_1214169695335565_558585966650979031_n.jpg 440.jpg Avenger S10.jpg|S10 Avenger from 2000-early 2002 monster-truck-avenger-competing-at-the-monster-truck-challenge-at-B4YFA5.jpg Vlcsnap-2019-03-30-15h58m15s229 (104).png|Avenger's flat tire in Monster Jam World Finals 2 70a275c6-20d7-43e8-b5f8-e2039c1c05c1.jpg|First Chevy Nomad Avenger Avec206a3.jpg|Running the Nomad body in 2002. Avneger 06.jpg|Avenger as a Bel Air Aven208b5z.jpg|Avenger 2002-2006 Screenshot_2018-11-25-11-54-45.png Screenshot_2018-11-25-11-55-00.png 5hjghjgkhghkgjkhgkjhgkhgkhgjkhg35.jpg|Orange Avenger being run at the Halloween Route 66 event 17192285 1233622796757711 4970147211439331171 o.jpg Silvaven205a.jpg|Avenger in 2005's pontiac show, running PTM CORP hubs. Silvaven205a3.jpg|Ditto Avenger 08.jpg|Avenger circa 2007 2hhhhhh01.jpg|Fig Newton Avenger 2haha82.jpg|Neon-Teal/Seafoam Green body for the Monster Mash Tour 08lololololo8.jpg|With Orange Wheels Avenger 10.JPG Avenger.jpg|Avenger circa 2011. 13256233_1180785741952956_2400474856178078992_n.jpg Avenger 13.jpg|Avenger with its current scheme avengerst.jpg|Ditto 1900.jpg|Avenger in 2015, without it's sponsorship decals. Avenger Rocking.jpg|Avenger with the "Rocking Zero Points" decal in 2015 IMG 6295.jpg|Avenger running a "Scuba" body from 2009 in 2015, a slightly different version from the World Finals 10 paint scheme. 13087918_1038477116263605_3131041391907702626_n.jpg|Scuba Avenger in 2016 IMG_0102.JPG|Ditto 11216837_998909846861552_349458399832299970_n.jpg|Avenger on Rage Detroit_030417_DaveDeAngelis-2289.jpg 13775825 1066524123429391 3870517396741280901 n.png|Rockin 50 Years Birthday body 27752602_1627558803992584_3700487194485722098_n.jpg 34131416_1920818887938881_9078569306119208960_n.jpg|Avenger's Junkyard body in 2018 30516464_1800512886679417_2432764008684584960_o.jpg|The Rockin 50 Years body in 2018 42771910_2071970346175748_3405616063059066880_n.jpg|Aqua Avenger in Wildwood, NJ, 2018 avenger_logo.png|Logo E38ba990a903e95ff8fd2d9d65190493.png|20th Anniversary logo 10931318 525977114208541 3310371831425781538 n.jpg|Avenger ATV 8llllllll9.jpg|Boat painted like Avenger at the Monster Jam World Finals 10 World Finals Designs Bed5b409-0727-4df4-b084-f2bc02c9b772.jpg|Orange Avenger for the Monster Jam World Finals 5 Avenger Half.jpg|Half-darkgreen/Half Orange Avenger for the Monster Jam World Finals 6 Avenger Chrome.jpg|Chrome Avenger for the Monster Jam World Finals 7 Fave206a1.jpg|Ditto 2709d2ee-d6ac-46d0-bcbe-d3d31b101886.jpg|Toxic Green Avenger for the Monster Jam World Finals 8 avenger2008.jpg|Light Green Avenger for the Monster Jam World Finals 9 Screenshot_20190410-190828.jpg|Ditto Avenger Blue.jpg|Light Blue Avenger for the Monster Jam World Finals 10 Screenshot 20190320-200929.jpg Avenger Black.jpg|Black and White Avenger for the Monster Jam World Finals 11 Screenshot 20190320-200934.jpg Avneger 11.jpg|Candy Apple Red Avenger for the Monster Jam World Finals 12 Avneger Yellow.jpg|Yellow Avenger for the Monster Jam World Finals 13 12045410 451688118373142 1264169244904388165 o.jpg|Dark Red Avenger for the Monster Jam World Finals 14 Avenger Purple.jpg|Purple Avenger for the Monster Jam World Finals 15 b047fa91-ef78-4586-9c36-1c5eeeb327bd.jpg|White Avenger for the Monster Jam World Finals 16 DX 1715.jpg|Hand Painted "Junkyard Blue"Avenger for the Monster Jam World Finals 17 DX_1154_0-2.jpg|At the Pit Party DX_5025.jpg 17492307 679316428943642 887602661943298764 o.jpg|Avenger at the Monster Jam World Finals 18 29389336_1867345083340335_2069679430425302831_n.jpg|Avenger for Monster Jam World Finals 19 FC7T5343.jpg|Avenger special body at the 2018 Monster Jam World Finals 19 Freestyle. Merchandise 2002 Avenger (2).jpg|2002 pickup Avenger Hot Wheels toy 2017 FL06-Avenger (2).jpg|2017 pickup Avenger Hot Wheels toy 2005 43-Avenger (2).jpg|2005 Hot Wheels toy 2009 63-Avenger-Light (2).jpg|2009 Hot Wheels toy, with lighter color scheme 2016 06-Avenger (2).jpg|2016 Hot Wheels toy. This is the last standard Bel-Air HW toy released 2006 35-Avenger (2).jpg|WF 5 Hot Wheels toy 2007 21-Avenger (2).jpg|WF 7 Hot Wheels toy 2010 52-Avenger (2).jpg|WF 10 Hot Wheels toy 2018 SE-MP Smash-Up StadiumA (5).jpg|Target-exclusive WF 11 Hot Wheels toy, released in 2018 2012 Avenger-Red (2).jpg|WF 12 Hot Wheels toy 71tQSxtsTBL. SX425 .jpg|WF 13 Hot Wheels toy 2014 60-Avenger (2).jpg|WF 14 Hot Wheels toy 2015 10-Avenger (2).jpg|WF 15 Hot Wheels toy 2016 31-Avenger (2).jpg|WF 16 Hot Wheels toy 2017 TF06-Avenger (2).jpg|WF 17 Hot Wheels toy 2018 EP14-Avenger (2).jpg|WF 18 Hot Wheels toy 51232316 2261783854059822 2890840845048797733 n.jpg|WF 19 Spin Master toy 2018 TF05-Avenger (2).jpg|2018 Scuba/WF 10 Hot Wheels toy 2017 CH04-Avenger (2).jpg|Chrome Hot Wheels toy, with a different design as the WF 7 body 2017 SE-25 Avenger (2).jpg|2017 Chrome Hot Wheels toy 2010 SE-EB Avenger (2).jpg|2010 Easter Beasts Hot Wheels toy with yellow wheels avengerplush.jpg|Plush Truck avengerrender.jpg|Avenger's Digital Truck Render in Monster Jam: Path of Destruction Category:Trucks Category:Team Scream Category:Monster Jam World Champions Category:Current Competing Trucks